Age and sex differences in T1 relaxation times and volumetrics in segmented brain and upper cervical spine in healthy participants using MP2RAGE protocol at 3.0 T

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To examine the influence of age and sex on T1 relaxation and volume in brain and upper cervical cord using MP2RAGE, which offers high contrast-to-noise ratio, uniform tissue contrast, and superior anatomical resolution alongside T1 mapping. This provides an accurate analysis of the magnitude of the effects of these covariates on the outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 208 MP2RAGE scans from the Max Planck Institute Leipzig Mind-Brain-Body LEMON dataset were segmented and labeled using FreeSurfer and Spinal Cord Toolbox. The influences of age and sex on dependent variables were analyzed using linear regression and group difference were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: T1 values of cortical gray matter (GM), cerebral white matter (WM), thalamus, caudate, putamen, hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior corpus callosum (CC) varied significantly with age. Cortical GM and cervical C1 T1 showed statistical significance with sex, with latter lower in the females compared to males. T1 values of the posterior CC were significantly lower than the anterior portion. GM, WM, thalamus, caudate, putamen, hippocampus and anterior CC volumes were significantly affected by age. Spine cross-sectional area (CSA) showed statistically significant differences with sex but not age. CONCLUSIONS: T1, regional brain volumes, and spinal CSA vary according to anatomical location, age, and sex, reflecting physiological differences associated with aging and sex. These results can operate as a normative baseline to gauge the magnitude of effect of these covariates on future studies in health or disease.